


Story

by lolcat202



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2018-03-28 18:38:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3865477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lolcat202/pseuds/lolcat202
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Don't tell me you didn't see the way August gave Regina the once-over in Poor Unfortunate Souls. One-shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Story

Regina sat in a corner booth, sipping tea and idly flipping through the book. Emma had promised to meet her at 10, and Regina hated to be kept waiting. Whatever failings Cora had had as a mother, she had taught Regina to be punctual and respectful of others’ time. Unfortunately, Regina had cast a curse that had prevented her from teaching her step-granddaughter the same lesson.

“Good morning,” came a voice from behind her, and then an unexpected guest slid into the booth.

“Good morning,” she responded, taken aback. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m hungry.” August smiled at her. “And all the seats at the counter are full.”

Regina looked over at the counter. Other than a couple of the dwarves – Whiny and Irritating, or whatever their names were – the stools were empty. She cocked an eyebrow at August.

“Go away,” she said, and turned her attention back to the book.

“Still looking for answers in there, huh?” he asked. “Well, you’re not going to find them.”

Her chin jerked up. He was still smiling. Apparently, Regina had been mistaken. Irritating wasn’t at the counter; he was sitting right here across from her. She sighed. “What do you mean by that?” she asked in the most regal tone she could muster.

“Emma told me what you’re doing.” He reached out and tapped the page in front of her. “You’re looking for a way to get the author away from Gold so that he can rewrite your happy ending.”

“So?”

“So, you’re after the wrong person. That author can’t do a thing for you anymore.”

Regina closed the book and folded her hands over the cover. “So. You _do_ know more than you’ve let on.”

He shook his head, completely disregarding her comment. “Where does the story end?” he asked.

“What?”

He reached over to tap the book again. “The story. Where does it end?”

A pop quiz. Great. “It hasn’t ended yet, obviously. We’re still here, aren’t we?”

“No, Regina,” he said with a laugh. “Where does the story end in the _book.”_

“With the curse, of course. You already know that. Why?”

He pulled the book out from under her arms and flipped through the pages until he was near the end. He flipped the book toward her and pointed to the place where pages met spine. “See that?” he asked. She looked closer and saw the jagged edges of a page ripped from the book.

“What is that?” she asked.

“That’s the page I ripped from the book. That’s the page where the author was kept.”

She looked blankly at him. “And?”

“And that’s not the end of the story, Regina. The author was gone, but the book was still finished. What does that tell you?”

She shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know,” she answered.

“What that means is, someone else finished the book. What it means is that the author? Isn’t the author anymore.”

Regina’s eyes widened. “But- Gold has the author. He thinks he can change the book.”

“You can’t change a story that’s already been written, Regina. Surely you’ve seen enough bad movie remakes in the past 30 years to know that.” August closed the book and slid it back to her. “This book? It’s history. It’s fairy tales. What’s happening now…Regina, this is _life_.”

“So, what are you saying? There is no author?” she snapped.

August smiled, his eyes scanning the diner. “Oh, I’m sure there’s an author out there. And someday, people will read all about this. But _that_ author? He’s just writing down the story. He’s not making it.” He turned his gaze back to her. “We are. So make it a good one.”

He stood up to leave. “August-“ she said, and he glanced back down at her. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

He leaned down, his face inches from hers. She could feel his breath against her cheek and fought not to be the one to break eye contact.

“Maybe I like you.” And with that, he headed for the door.


End file.
